Knockers at Tootsie's: Miami Sports Bar That Fills Every Gap

This past weekend Tootsie’s, my favorite strip club in South Florida, branched out into a new type of business: The Sports Bar. Knockers, a 14,000 square foot sports shrine, opened the same night as this season’s Miami Hurricanes. And much like the Canes, the bar looked impressive.

Do Not Tip Your Waitress by Stuffing Bills in Her Shirt

Just so you’re clear, Knockers is not a sports bar with strippers. It is actually an immense, separate facility in the back of Tootsie’s that features fully-clothed waitresses and bartenders that do not remove anything while they are at work.  As Manager Todd Ewing told me,

“This is a place a guy can tell his wife he’s going. ‘Oh, yeah, just going down to Knockers to watch the game.’ And it’s a lot easier to get away with that than saying you’re going to a strip club.”

Wives, of course, are not aware that in order to get to Knockers, you have to walk through the giant room full of naked women in front of it. But what they don’t know can’t hurt them.

“This is a place a guy can tell his wife he’s going. ‘Oh, yeah, just going down to Knockers to watch the game.’ And it’s a lot easier to get away with that than saying you’re going to a strip club.”

Wives, of course, are unaware that to get to Knockers, you have to walk through the giant room full of naked women in front of it. But what they don’t know can’t hurt them.

If the Game Sucks, Your Night May Get Even Better

Miami has long been a city lacking in real sports bars, and Knockers fills a great void for people in North Dade. As of opening, it will be carrying the full lineup of Sunday NFL games, with plans to expand to the premium packages for other sports in the near future. It is also one of the few bars I’ve gone into in Miami and not had to request they put the Marlins game on. Not only does it offer up some pretty good bar fare, but if you go before 8 drinks are half price and you don’t have to pay the Tootsie’s cover to get in.

Yes,  while Knockers is a huge sports bar with 6 televisions that are bigger than your house, you will have to pay the regular Tootsie’s cover to get in.

“Well, you look at it this way,” Ewing said, “it’s six bucks. And if the game is slow, or the game’s over you can go outside and look at some beautiful ladies. So you’re getting something for your money.”

“And once business in here picks up, and the place takes off, we may get to a point where we don’t charge the cover anymore if you’re just coming to Knockers.”

Not to Be Confused with That Place with the Owl

The name of the bar, as some of the more astute readers here may notice, seems a bit similar to another themed restaurant that names itself after a slang term for breasts. But that is about where the similarities end. Yes, Knockers is staffed by attractive females, but they are decked out in small jerseys and normal-sized shorts. Nothing unusual for a sports bar catering to a predominantly male clientele. And the food is the same food that you’d get inside Tootsie’s. Which, as I’ve mentioned about the place before, is surprisingly good, and definitely better than that place with the orange shorts.

The sports-bar-within-a-strip-club concept is not one that’s been seen before in this city. But in trying this Tootsie’s has now provided two things that are in rare supply in Miami-Dade: A clean, lavish strip club with girls that do not look like they have criminal records, and a sports bar that has the ability to show more than just the Dolphins games.

I urge anyone who is looking for a place to watch a game to give Knockers a try. And if you don’t like it? Well, there’s always the tip rail right outside.

Editor’s Note: Originally published September 6, 2010. Updated in 2026 with new photography; Matt Meltzer’s original writing remains unchanged.